Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Spurgeon on the Law and Gospel

I especially liked the last sentence. Notice that Spurgeon does not say the law is there simply to drive us to Christ and show us our sin. Of course, Spurgeon believed this. But here he states that the Gospel produces a life that is consistent with God's law.

"There are certain pious moderns who will not allow the preacher to speak upon anything but those doctrinal statements concerning the way of salvation which are known as 'the Gospel.' We do not stand in awe of such criticism, for we clearly perceive that our Lord Jesus Christ himself would very frequently have come under it. Read the Sermon on the Mount and judge whether certain among the pious would be content to hear the like of it preached to them. Indeed, they would condemn it as containing very little Gospel and too much good works. They would condemn it as containing all too much of the legal. But we must never let be forgotten Christ's emphasis: the law must be preached, for what the law demands of us, the Gospel produces in us, else ours is no Gospel at all." Charles Haddon Spurgeon

HT: George Grant

1 comment:

Bill O. said...

How quickly Christains today want to recieve Christ and then continue as things were and quickly label anything concerning standards / law as legalism. Sounds like Spurgeon was battling easy believism.

Let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud on their beds, let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind the kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron. Psalm 149:5-8